


lips that don't speak

by herwhiteknight



Series: Bumbleby Week 2019 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Bumbleby Week, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Romance, atlas ball, bmblb week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 09:34:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19827373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herwhiteknight/pseuds/herwhiteknight
Summary: Yang and Blake steal a quiet moment alone, away from the party.





	lips that don't speak

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 of Bumbleby Week. Prompt: Atlas Ball.

They’d worked hard to get here. They’d endured much, lost much, gained even more. The weight of everything that they’d been through as a team had finally started to dissipate, the horror of a naked blade through flesh had finally stopped dancing around the edges of her nightmares. She’d worked hard to make it so. To banish his demon from her mind. From _both_ of their minds. And so, she should be enjoying the night. Taking it all in. 

But for some reason, she just couldn’t.

She hung around the edges of the party - _no, it was much more elegant than such_ \- watching the smoothly moving partners from her place on the balcony above. It was easier here, she reasoned. She’d faced all manner of Grimm creatures with an easy smirk and a confident swagger, but mingling with those above her social class? A damn near nightmare. 

And she’d had plenty of those to pick from over the last few months. 

She tugged the sleeve of her elbow-length white satin gloves a little higher, feeling self-conscious despite everything. She’d lived and fought with this new piece of herself for so long that it started to breathe along with her too. And so she thought she’d gotten used to stares and sympathetic looks and inquires gazes. But… walking into that brightly decorated ballroom, it all changed. She felt like she was burning alive under their stares, the judgemental glares. Ironic such as it was, as she was someone who made a living out of walking through crucibles and coals and coming out brighter on the other side.

So it was just easier to stay up on the balcony, where the gravity of their eyes felt less heavy. Where she could be alone. 

“Yang?”

Well. Not _entirely_ alone.

A grin spread softly across her face before she even turned to greet the voice who spoke. Blake. “Hey Blake,” she said, just as gently as her smile as she reached out and settled her arm across Blake’s waist, a warm reassurance that they were together.

“Not enjoying the party, I take it?” she asked dryly, dropping her head onto Yang’s shoulder with an ease that had bloomed from nowhere but still felt so right.

“I’d say it’s definitely a lot better now,” Yang replied easily, dropping a kiss to the crown of her head, just beside the knot of Blake’s royal purple bow. “It still kinda sucks though,” Yang sighed after a moment.

“I know,” Blake murmured, catching her meaning as her ears gave a small twitch under the fabric. She dropped her hand to Yang’s prosthetic, catching the feeling of the body-warmed metal underneath the silk of her glove. 

_“Yang, what are you-”_

_“We have to blend in tonight, Ruby,” Yang had said, running her fingers over the texture of the long gloves, the material smooth over her flesh and cold as it draped over metal. “We have to keep up appearances to make it easier on Qrow as he talks to Ironwood.”_

_“She’s right,” Weiss replied from another rack in the dress shop, wearing a tight frown. “There are certain expectations that must be met and very strict requirements that must be upheld. It’ll just be for one night,” she continued as she held out a long purple ribbon for Blake to try on._

“It makes it easier,” Blake murmured, tangling her fingers within Yang’s.

Yang nodded sadly, kissing the crown of her head again, closer still to her ears this time. “But it doesn’t make it any easier,” she said, catching her meaning and adding onto it. “We should be free to be who we are, wherever we are.”

Blake hummed into Yang’s neck, nuzzling her nose in close against the soft skin there, still smelling softly of lavender from the bath they’d shared just before getting ready for the ball. Then, after a moment, Yang felt a smile growing against her collarbone and glanced over suspiciously. “Just what are you thinking?”

“What if we just _left_?” Blake asked, lifting up her head to meet Yang’s eyes. 

“Left?”

“Yeah, they…,” Blake glanced around, sounding breathless in her excitement, with Yang’s lungs following suit at the awed expression on Blake’s face. “We’re just the back up, they told us to be ready just _in case_ something happens. But I think they have everything under control, don’t you?”

Yang glanced down at the polished floor where couples in polished suits and ice cold exteriors moved in perfect synchronized clockwork. She caught sight of Ruby easily, looking as uncomfortable as she had at the Beacon dance - _scratch that_ . Exceptionally _more_ uncomfortable given that Weiss has demanded they all dress to the nines and then some. She was standing awkwardly at Weiss’ side as she schmoozed with the guests, casting her gaze around the room, just for something to do. Her eyes met Yang’s after a moment and immediately softened when she saw Blake and Yang standing together. Yang shrugged a shoulder, tipped her head out towards the open space of the balcony. Ruby’s wide grin was all the answer they needed.

“Good thing this isn’t a _serious_ mission,” Yang smirked, stretching her arms above her head as they stepped out into the chilly Atlas nighttime air. 

Blake let the comment wash over her, breathing in the fresh scent of the falling snow, exhaling slowly and clouding the air in front of her. “It’s nice to get away,” she murmured, turning to Yang who was leaning on the railing, pretending to watch the stars. “It’s nice when it’s with you.”

“Is this where I’m supposed to say something cheesy about the sky being beautiful and you answer that it is but instead you can’t stop staring at me?” Yang teased, nudging her shoulder into Blake’s.

Blake leaned into the movement, capturing Yang’s right arm and wrapping it around her waist once more, pulling them both tight. “You don’t have to say something cheesy for me to call you beautiful,” Blake whispered, dropping all pretense and staring deeply into Yang’s eyes, the colour that matched her soul. The way hers matched Yang’s. “You don’t have to say anything _at all_ for me to say that I love you.”

“Blake-” Yang started, turning slightly in Blake’s arms so that they were now face to face in their embrace.

“I know we’ve been through so much, I just thought I would never get the chance to…,” Blake hesitated on her words, the sounds getting caught up in her throat in a frustrated growl. She shook her head, lip caught worried between her teeth before she just decided to lunge forward and let everything _else_ speak for her. Because she’d run out of words.

It was everything she’d been thinking about since she first watched Yang fight in the forest, though her desires never fully caught up with her until this moment. She arched into the kiss, felt Yang’s startled hands come to wind around her back and fully lift her off her feet. The night around them was cold, she could see little flecks of snow drop just barely against Yang’s long lashes before both of their eyes fluttered closed at the exact same moment and a sigh punctuated the air. Blake couldn’t even tell if it was from her own throat or not. She didn’t even care. All she knew was that Yang felt like heaven, her skin was as hot as the sun.. whatever other words she could use, but she let them fail her. 

Yang was here. Everything else could burn for all she knew.

“Wow, uh…,” Yang stammered, lifting a hand almost subconscious to her kiss-swollen lips. “Tell me how you really feel,” she gaped.

“Yang!” Blake smacked her hand against Yang’s chest, but she couldn’t stop a giddy grin from unfurling widely across her face. 

“I’m kidding, obviously,” Yang murmured, her tone not matching her words _at all_ as she stared, wide-eyed, expression near akin to shock. “That was…. Damn. Just _damn,_ Blake.”

“So you don’t have any words either?” Blake said smugly, lifting her hand to Yang’s face to cover Yang’s prosthetic that still rested against her jaw.

Yang shook her head, pressing her cheek into Blake’s hand for a long quiet moment. Then it was her turn for her eyes to light up mischievously. “But I don’t think that’s going to be a problem… is it?”

“No…,” Blake said, already tilting her face in close to Yang’s. “I don’t think it will be.”


End file.
